Zest 817 SECRET SAUCE // The Food of Many Flags

Zest 817 Secret Sauce

The Food of Many Flags

Zara’s serves a welcome introduction to Afghan cuisine

BY IAN CONNALLY PHOTOS BY TWIG CAPRA

On the drive to Zara’s Afghan Cuisine, a relatively new addition to Mansfield’s expanding landscape of non-chain restaurants, I had a few minutes to consider what exactly I knew about Afghan cuisine. Generally, Afghanistan comes up in my reading and discussions because of geo-politics, war, and the devastation wrought by 150 years of aspiring imperial powers competing for position in the region. It’s a history that has long kept the once-vibrant nation wedged between Pakistan and Iran off the list of popular tourist destinations and, as a result, Afghan food off the radar of most diners who don’t live in cities with a large Afghan community. In short, I knew nothing.

Zara’s beef kabob is a perfect iteration of the ways Afghan cuisine has absorbed and assimilated the flavors and techniques that surround it.

Photo by Twig Capra.

Who

Zara’s Afghan Cuisine

As I sat in a buoyant red-leatherette booth in Zara’s airy strip-mall storefront, the wafts of cumin, turmeric, and chargrilled meats coming from the kitchen evoked the tandoori houses of my childhood in the south of England. Looking over the beverage menu, I noticed hot black tea was on offer, and, never one to avoid living up to a stereotype, I ordered a cup. “Calvin & Hobbes” comic strips, another staple of my youth, decorated the table. Confusingly, in a space where I could have felt like a stranger, I felt right at home. Perhaps it was the service: hospitable, inviting, and warm. Or perhaps it would turn out that I did know something about this food after all.

Where

120 N Walnut Creek Dr, Mansfield, 682-518-3668

It shouldn’t have surprised me. Afghanistan was central to the Silk Road routes that linked Asia and Europe for centuries. It became a center of wealth due to this trade, and its cuisine reflects that commerce. Reading the menu, I found influences from India in the kormas, tandoori, and masala alongside recognizably Mediterranean offerings like hummus, baba ghanoush, and kabob. Central Asia was there, too, in the mantu, steamed dumplings stuffed with savory ground beef, brightened with coriander and topped with fiercely garlicky yogurt sauce.

Vibe

Playful and bright strip-mall storefront with comfortable booths and lunch buffet

But what, I asked our host, would exemplify Afghan food? Come for the buffet and try a little of everything, he suggested, but failing that, chicken tikka kabob on pilau rice with naan. We should order a vegetable dish, too, he offered. Maybe banjan borani –– fried eggplant in masala sauce –– and some bolani gandana, a platter-sized grilled flatbread stuffed with leeks and chives. To finish, baklava. There to learn, I followed his guidance.

Don’t-Miss Dishes

Mantu, chicken tikka kabob, baklava

At first glance, the flatbread resembled Indian paratha. Thin, crisp-grilled dough enveloped sweet, tender leeks At first glance, the flatbread resembled Indian paratha. Thin, crisp-grilled dough enveloped sweet, tender leeks and a mix of chive, garlic, and cilantro. Dipped in the garlic-yogurt sauce that is seemingly served with everything at Zara’s, this was a satisfying, savory appetizer, rich and bright. The kabobs, tandoori-red cubes of chicken breast marinated in a spice blend anchored by cumin, sat on a bed of my new favorite rice. Long-grained like basmati, it was crisp and brown with a sweet spice reminiscent of garam masala. This was clearly not Indian food: The spice blends were more reserved, sweeter, more savory than spicy, but it was definitely related –– a perfect iteration of the ways Afghan cuisine has absorbed and assimilated the flavors and techniques that surround it.

Zara’s baklava cradles a filling of walnuts and dried fruit.

Photo by Twig Capra.

Zara’s baklava is also familiar yet new. Like the better-known Middle-Eastern versions, ethereally flaky phyllo layers with syrup –– here, not cloyingly sweet, but refined, allowing the dough and filling to shine –– and cradles a filling of walnuts and dried fruit. It was the introduction to Afghanistan I needed –– that we all need –– not as a contested landscape viewed through the lens of a century of invasions but as a home, a place rich and vibrant, with a cuisine that reflects a history steeped in the cultures of South and Central Asia.

Entree Prices

$9.95-$16.95

When

11am-2:30pm, 6pm-9pm daily

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